ChrisW

Very kind thanks to @Asif Hussain for supporting this drive too!

DRIVE PLAN 🏜️ Old Lady to Salamat — Fewbie Plus Drive | Sunday Morning Sunday morning we're heading out for one of the most exciting Fewbie Plus routes going! We'll air down at the meet point, warm up through the sand entry, then take on the legendary Old Lady Dune before winding south into Salamat's playground of deep bowls. Expect tall dunes, punchy climbs and a proper run of bowls — Oasis Half Bowl, the 360 Bowl, Al Yarhar and the Egg Bowl — for the ultimate mix of thrill and technique. Fun, fast-paced and rewarding. Sign up below! 🚗💨 Please avoid bringing guests with you unless they have previously had experience at this level. MUST READ AND COMPLY Environmental Policy Offroad Flag Guideline Two-Way Radio Guideline Off road Driving Etiquettes Emergency details for all off roaders Off Road Driving - Roles & Responsibilities DRIVE DETAILS Level: Fewbie+ and above When: 12 July 2026, Sunday Meeting time: 5:30 AM (aired down and rolling by 06:00 AM) Meeting Point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/EyhEGuc87TSvU23o6 Approximate finish time: 9:00AM Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance. What to bring along: Loads of water, snacks (for yourself), smiles, enthusiasm, and willingness to learn. MANDATORY OFF-ROAD GEAR: Tire deflator & Tire pressure gauge Compressor Walkie-talkie radio Off-road flag Shovel, Tow Rope & 2 Shackles First-aid kit Fire extinguisher LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE This drive is limited to 8 cars only (inc. lead and support). RSVP will close on Friday If the RSVP is full, you can add your name to the waitlist, once anyone drops, you will be moved to the RSVP list. RSVP will close a day prior to preparing a convoy list. Latecomers will be returned - without any exceptions. Members without RSVP will be returned - without any exceptions. Please withdraw your RSVP, if you aren't joining, so your spot can be taken by others. Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month. PLEASE RSVP ON BELOW CALENDAR

Hi @khurramm - hope it was nothing major. Now - on to today’s drive! Firstly @Mark B - Thank you very much for letting me lead a good part of your drive today. Most grateful for getting to do my second partial with you. @Andrei S @Giacomo Thank you for the support today…you were both good on the radio comms and helping give me capacity to just focus on driving and finding our way through. @Rajath Shetty Great work today! You are driving well and I’m glad you got to enjoy the drive and try out some skills on the dune driving and in the bowl. Lots of valuable lessons there for you today. We made good progress through the mixture of technical and long range dunes, and got to enjoy a good blast around and in the Ghafftein Bowl. Stopping off at the salt rocks at the end was a chance to see a different patch of desert before we hustled out via the Sabkah and to the E95. Safe drive home to you all and enjoy the weekend.

RSVP IS NOW CLOSED Dear @Mark B @Rajath Shetty @Giacomo @khurram @Andrei S please see below the convoy order. We will aim to be at the meeting point, aired down and ready to go for 07.00 - and we will use Channel 4 (446.081-25). Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow!

Hey @Andrei S - there was a small mistake when the drive was first posted, whereby the planned exit point was listed as the meet point. It was corrected maybe 10 minutes after the go live. I can confirm that the meet point is as per above - we will meet here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/JtbZBEPq6apY5K1S7

Thank you all - was a real pleasure to have my first experience leading a convoy with you today. We had a good mix of terrain, with some tighter technical sections, faster stretches through the long range dunes, and a little play time off the end with the large crescent shaped dune. Everyone drove well, with instructions followed well in recoveries and feedback taken as we went along. You’ll have all seen today how critical tyre pressures are becoming in the soft sand, and the need to adapt distance between cars depending on terrain and speed. Last and not least - thank you @DP1011 for your support and guidance today.

Ahh, would have loved to have you along @Glenn W but thanks for letting us know this afternoon. Revised order:

RSVP NOW CLOSED. @DP1011 @Lukas Wii @Wayne Momsen @Steve Farmer @Steffi @saumik1989 @Glenn W @Danie @Jerome @Krinesh @Cristian Hey guys - hope you're all looking forward to tomorrow morning's easy cruise through the fun dunes of Faya! The ride order will be as below. We will use Channel 7 (446.156-25). Let's aim to be aired down and start the briefing together at 6am...rough plan will be to step a little way south before cruising east towards the sun through the long-range dunes of Faya, looking for a bowl or two, a stop at the Fox Dens, and some play areas. We will aim to exit onto the E20 around 09.30 or so. The temperatures are up, so do check the fluid levels on your cars tonight (oil, coolant) and yourselves (bring plenty of fluids!).

It’s certainly worth looking at - I would suggest asking your garage for a quote for repair vs installing a re-conditioned engine.

Have a blast @Andrew John Melvill

Many thank you’s to offer here… @Ale Vallecchi Thank you for a well led drive. We had a mix of terrain, some good adventure, some challenges too - really enjoyed it. Thank you @Glenn W and @Giacomo for the support. Great to see you both stepping into the role so well. And finally thank you @Rajath Shetty and @Jerome - you did very well this afternoon and kept the pace fantastically. Last and not least, thanks to the desert for giving us this amazing sight…

Yeah, if it’s both camshafts (and you take the opportunity to replace lifters, rockers etc) it’s a fairly extensive job. You’ll be looking at comfortably over 10-15k AED at least. You should also ensure the garage does a full clean out and flush so you can be confident there’s no debris hanging around in the oil channels etc.

See you Friday

As we enter the summer season, @Sam Selim and I have been watching the gauges on our Jeep JL 3.6L 4x4's - which quickly raises a question...what does normal look like? Our hobby means we push cars harder and in unusual conditions, often in ways for which they were not directly designed. A quick glance will tell you if everything is OK (i.e. all the needles are below red-lines), but over time many of us develop a gut feeling for what looks normal and when things are outside of what we would expect to see. I decided on today's drive with @Mark B to snatch a few data points and look at things with a bit more detail: Couple of major points to relate my gut feelings to what you see: The oil pressure on the Pentastar engine varies with RPM, with typically around 30 PSI below circa 3000 RPM, rising to 70 PSI when revving higher - the key point is just to ensure you don't have too low oil pressure (<<30 PSI). Oil temperature is a leading indicator: if you push hard, it moves up quickly, and vice-versa. This is to be expected, as engine oil has the dual job of lubricating the engine as well as drawing heat. Coolant temperature is a lagging indicator: The coolant temperature rises when pushing the engine, but at a slower rate - it also cools down less quickly too. Also on the Jeep JL, the fan will kick into max power at 110 degC and pull the temperature down again. If you see the temperature going beyond 110 degC and can't hear the fan (or the temperature keeps rising), it's time to do something (like come to a stop!). Transmission Temperature: It's a slow mover with plenty of margin to the limit value. However my suspicion is that once this gets hot, it will take some time to cool down again. What does normal look like on your car, and what are the big red flags for you?